


slices of life

by lebsian



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Character Death, Death, Domestic Fluff, Drabble Collection, Eighth Bird Julia Burnsides, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, Lazy Mornings, M/M, Meet-Cute, Panic Attacks, Parenthood, Road Trips, Superheroes, almost all chapters are domestic fluff tbh, but kinda meet weird, requests and drabbles from tumblr, so more tags will be added and rating might be changed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 13,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27080725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lebsian/pseuds/lebsian
Summary: requests/drabbles/oneshots from mytumblr. every chapter has appropriate trigger warnings if needed. enjoy :)
Relationships: Barry Bluejeans/Lup, Hurley/Sloane (The Adventure Zone), Julia Burnsides/Magnus Burnsides, Kravitz/Taako (The Adventure Zone), The Director | Lucretia/Lup
Comments: 16
Kudos: 30





	1. magnulia: "I didn't know you could do that"

**Author's Note:**

> magnulia with a side of eighth bird!julia. this actually takes place in the au of my other fic, [life after death](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25983232/chapters/63169678)

“I didn’t know you could do that,” Julia says, making Magnus jump. He hadn’t heard her enter the room, but he guesses he should expect that from a rogue.

“Uh, yeah. I do it when I have the time,” he says, looking back down at his left hand, splayed flat on the table’s surface. His right hand holds the nail polish, and he goes back to carefully brushing it on.

“I’m not any good at it,” Julia says, moving from where she was leaning against the wall to sit down across from him. “I pick my nails too much to paint them.”

“I kinda did that too, as a kid. I bit my nails,” Magnus explains, not looking up at her. He can’t focus when he looks at her. Very unlucky that one of the seven people he’s lived with for a decade now do that to him. “My parents painted my nails and I thought they were _so_ pretty, so I broke the habit. Now I keep doing it because I like the colors.”

Julia reaches over and gently takes Magnus’ hand in her own. He freezes and looks up at her face, watching her inspect his nails.

“It’s really nice,” she murmurs.

“Thanks,” he replies, just as quiet.

Magnus is trapped with seven other people on a spaceship running from the apocalypse. Somehow he’s perfectly okay with that, because he gets to fight shadow demons with her.

She looks up at him, a cheerful smile on her face. “Could you paint mine?”

Oh! Right, the nails. He nods, and her smile turns excited. It’s infectious, he smiles too.

“Pick a color while mine dries. There are more in my room if you wanna look.”

Julia nods, eyes scanning over the colors he has out now. Just red and a sparkly silver. She stands and says, “I think I will.”

Magnus nods, putting the cap back on the polish. She walks away and Magnus watches her go. He’s fucking _gone_.


	2. hurloane: "come on, it wasn't that bad"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: injury and bleeding

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad.”

“You’re getting blood all over the couch.”

Sloane smiles up at Hurley, despite the gash in her stomach. Hurley ignores it, too busy summoning the spell to heal her.

The wound is closing, but not as fast as she’d like it to. She’s too tired to do much else, though. There’s also the blood she needs to get clean from the wound, and she knows Sloane won’t be at peak performance for a few days.

“You’ll be fine, but you need to rest for a few days,” she says.

“You’re cute when you worry,” Sloane says in lieu of a response, reaching a hand to wipe a curl away from Hurley’s face, then she cups her cheek.

Hurley leans into the touch, sighing. “I wish I didn’t have to worry.”

“It’s a dangerous sport, Hurls.”

She takes the towel on Sloane’s chest, stained red, and puts it down next to where she’s leaning. Sloane pulls her hand back to let Hurley focus. Quietly, Hurley asks, “Why do you like it?”

“I like the thrill,” Sloane says softly as Hurley picks up a wet cloth and begins cleaning the wound with expert precision and care. “Anything could happen out there, I’m never bored.” Then, louder and with more joke in her tone, “Plus I’m a damn good mechanic and like showing off.”

Hurley laughs a little. “You are. But…” She sighs again and sits back on her heels. “it’s not safe.” She balls the cloth in her hands and looks away. “I care about you. You know that. And it hurts me to see you hurt.”

“Hurley.” Sloane reaches her hand over Hurley’s own and Hurley looks up into her eyes. Her gaze is soft, a change of pace compared to the usual fire in her eyes.

“I can handle myself. I’ve been doing this for a long time before you came around. I actually worry more about you out there.”

Hurley quirks an eyebrow in confusion and Sloane laughs quietly. She looks down at their hands and says, “You have less experience. Races are never truest predictable, but there’s always a sort of pattern. There’s constants, and I know to look out for them. Also, no one would particularly care if The Ram went down, and that scares me. Not to mention,” She makes eye contact again and Hurley’s enchanted. “you quit your job for me. We don’t have much in terms of income, and I’ve only ever looked out for me.”

“I can handle myself too, Sloane.” Hurley looks away and unfolds the cloth to fiddle with it.

“Then why do we worry about each other?”

“Maybe because we love each other,” Hurley says without thinking. Then she realizes what she said and her hands freeze. She looks up at Sloane, terrified.

“You… love me?” Sloane asks, looking just as shocked to hear is as Hurley was to say it.

“I…” No takes backs, so why not dive right in? Plus, she doesn’t regret saying it. “Yeah. I do,” Hurley says.

Sloane stares at her, then cups her cheek again. She pulls Hurley in for the best kiss she’s ever gotten. It’s soft, it’s slow, it’s _loving_.

They break away, and Sloane rests her forehead against Hurley’s. “I love you too.”

Hurley closes her eyes and laughs a little, letting a few tears slip from her eyes. Sloane tuts softly, wiping one away with the pad of her thumb.

Hurley leans back, shaking her head and wiping the tears away. “I still need to clean you up.”

“Then clean me up, love,” Sloane says, affection clear in her tone.

As Hurley finishes working and lets Sloane fall asleep on their couch, her head echoes the word: _love, love, love_.


	3. taakitz: "kissing someone's scars"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: injury and ptsd

Taako has scars, and plenty of them. A lot of his life has resulted in injury, even if you don’t count the century where no scar lasted. His hands have the lightest remnants of burns from his early cooking days, and his torso has scrapes and cuts from his adventures. His legs…

He’s laying on his bed, feet propped up on the headboard. Movement hurts often, so he can’t bother himself to lay “correctly” on the bed. His hands are folded behind his head, and he’s staring at the scars. When he puts on his glamour, his makes these disappear, even if his pants cover them. He just feels better knowing they aren’t there if someone tried to look.

These scars are messy and ugly. His others are simple lines on his skin indicating that whoops! he wasn’t careful with a knife when he was little! The scars on his legs are the opposite, and if he closes his eyes he can see the bruises and the blood and the—

A hand gently tilts his head to the side. Taako opens his eyes, and a small tear rolls down his face. Kravitz is crouched by his head, and wipes away the tear. He looks upset, not at Taako but for him. He leans forward and wordlessly kisses Taako’s cheek where the tear was. He stands and crosses the room, changing into his pajamas on the way. (Taako will admit he’s jealous of how Kravitz can just will his clothes to become comfortable.)

Kravitz gets into bed, actually under the covers and head on the pillows. “Are you gonna sleep like that?”

“Maybe.” Kravitz’s face is much better to look at than scars, Taako thinks. Scars don’t have a handsome face and cute smile.

Kravitz smiles that cute smile, and looks from Taako’s legs to his face. “You know, I think they’re beautiful.”

“Of course they are, I’m gorgeous,” Taako says, smirking. He disagrees, heavily, but he won’t say it.

Kravitz laughs a little. “I know you are.” He turns to Taako’s legs again. His face is about knee-level. He leans forward and gently kisses his knee, and Taako freezes.

It doesn’t hurt, of course it doesn’t. Kravitz is always careful around Taako’s legs, sometimes even too careful. It’s the act of it that makes him stop, his smile replaced with shock.

Kravitz leans his head near his knee, careful not to touch it. He looks at Taako and smiles. “Why so surprised? I told you you’re beautiful.”

For some reason that hits him like a battle wagon. More tears well in his eyes and he covers his face with one hand. “Oh gods, shit…”

“Woah woah woah, what’s wrong?” Kravitz asks, and Taako feels him moving on the bed. Then Kravitz’s hand is pulling Taako’s hand away and holding it. He looks down at Taako’s tear stained face looking guilty.

“No— don’t— it’s not you,” Taako says. He sniffs. “Well, it is, but it’s not bad.”

Kravitz still looks confused. “What?”

Taako uses his free hand to cup the back of Kravitz’s neck and pull him down into a kiss. He pushes everything he’s feeling into it and hopes he gets the message across.

They pull apart and some of Kravitz’s confusion is gone. He smiles down at Taako and says, “You know, when I said I love you, I meant all of you.”

“And people say you’re the lucky one,” Taako says, still cradling Kravitz’s face in his hand.

Kravitz puts his hand over Taako’s and smiles, then it drops. “Wait, who says that?”

“Oh you know, Lup and Barry, Magnus,” Taako says, waving a hand. “I think Dav said it once.”

Kravitz laughs. “They’re right. I’m so lucky you’re in my life.”

“You’re not alive, but yeah,” Taako says, “Me too.”

Kravitz smiles. He’s looking at Taako with love in his eyes right now. Taako hopes he’s seeing the same thing. Kravitz leans back down for another kiss. Taako won’t say no to that.


	4. hurloane: "you say that every time, and it never happens"

Sloane is happy. Really happy, actually. The past few months have been nothing short of _perfect_ now that Hurley is in her life. She’s humming as she idly cleans their apartment, which is weird because who _hums_? No one outside of a cheesy romcom hums, except for Sloane, apparently.

She hears the door opening and Hurley steps through, a few bags of groceries hanging off her elbow. She barely has the time to close the door before Sloane is hugging her.

“Welcome home,” Sloane says, and Hurley laughs a little.

“I wasn’t gone that long,” she says, managing to put the bags on the floor before properly hugging Sloane back.

“Mm, don’t care,” Sloane says, cupping Hurley’s face in her hands and kissing her. “Missed you.”

“I did too,” Hurley says, and now that Sloane is looking at her face she seems… nervous? “But I need to ask you something.

Sloane lets her hands fall to Hurley’s shoulders. “Yeah?” Did something go wrong? Did she do something wrong? Her good mood is out the window now.

“I just— hold on, let me get…” Hurley trails off, picking up the bags and bringing them to the kitchen. Sloane wordlessly picks up a few so they can share the load.

Hurley takes a bag and starts emptying its contents onto the island as she speaks. “I’ve just noticed a few things that confuse me.” She turns away from Sloane as she puts a few things in the fridge as she continues. “You’ve, uh… you never eat or sleep unless you’re with me. And you never pays for things, you just _have_ them.”

Oh. Whoops.

“I know it’s a weird thing to notice and you probably think I’m out of it, but I don’t know, I—”

“You’re right,” Sloane says. She’s nervously gripping a box of macaroni noodles, crumpling the cardboard a little. Hurley closes the fridge and looks at her up and down, seeing nerves and barely concealed secrets personified.

“Sloane, you promised me you’d be less cryptic.”

“And I will.”

“You say that every time, and it never happens.”

Sloane looks away. Why does everything have to be so _hard_ for her?

“Sloane, what aren’t you telling me?” Hurley’s crossed the room to gently relieve the macaroni from Sloane’s grip.

“I— …I don’t know if I can tell you.”

“Are you stealing again?” Hurley asks, and Sloane whips her head to face her.

“What? No! I’ve gone clean, I know how important that is to you.”

“Then where did you get these?” Hurley asks, gesturing to Sloane’s clothes. “We don’t have the money for you to buy them.”

She’s angry and Sloane doesn’t blame her. She got herself a new outfit from a fancy store in the tourist-y part of Goldcliff, where neither of them can afford anything. Of course Hurley thinks she’s stealing again.

“Here,” Sloane says, pulling out the chair at the island closest to her and gesturing for Hurley to sit. She sits at the other seat next to her and turns to face her. She takes Hurley’s hands in her own and looks into her eyes.

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know, right here, right now.”

“Everything?”

Sloane hesitates. “Well, I don’t know about _everything_ , but I’ll do my best. I promise.”

Hurley sighs. “Okay.” She thinks for a moment, then asks, “How’d you get the clothes?”

“I bought them,” Sloane says, “With money from my brother.”

“You’re brother?” Sloane nods. Hurley says, “You’ve mentioned him before. What’s his name?”

“Kravitz.”

“Kravitz, right. What does he do again?”

“He, uh…” Sloane panics a little. This is exactly what she _can’t_ tell Hurley. “He works for our mom.”

The look on Hurley’s face tells her that she noticed the dodge. She should expect more from her. “Who’s your mom?”

Sloane sighs and hangs her head, squeezing Hurley’s hands in her own. “This is what I shouldn’t tell you.”

“Shouldn’t?” Hurley asks, “Since when do you follow rules?” Her tone is joking but she does sound a little concerned.

“These are important rules,” Sloane says, straightening her posture.

“More important than the laws you’ve broken?”

Sloane nods. Hurley asks, “What rules are more important than laws?”

“The laws of life and death,” Sloane says quickly. Like a bandaid, rip it off fast.

Hurley looks baffled. “What?”

Sloane, closes her eyes, sighs, then opens them again. “My mom is The Raven Queen.”

Hurley says nothing and looks like she doesn’t know whether or not to take it as a joke.

Sloane continues, still speaking quickly. “I was adopted as a baby by her and I grew up in the Astral Plane and I moved here because mortal life looked so cool and I wanted to try it ‘cause you know, I’m mortal too. Not a lot of people can know I’m so close to a goddess because that could be used against her and that’s why I didn’t tell you but it’s not like I don’t trust you I’m just doing what Mom says.”

Hurley still looks disbelieving. Slower, Sloane says, “Hurley, please. I didn’t mean to keep secrets. But now I’ll tell you everything, and I promise not to leave anything out.”

Eventually Hurley nods. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s do that. Start from the beginning.”

“You sure? You don’t look too hot.”

“My girlfriend’s the daughter of the goddess of death. It’s a lot to process.”

Sloane starts laughing. Hurley joins her. Sloane squeezes Hurley’s hands again. “This is so _weird_!”

Hurley nods. “You gotta explain it all to me, babe.”

Sloane nods too. “Okay, uh, I was adopted when I was about a year old…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> au where sloane and kravitz are siblings 👀


	5. blupjeans: "naturally going along with a white lie you told"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you think i'm gonna see this prompt and not make it fake dating? who do you think i am

Barry’s a lot of things, and an idiot is apparently one of them. He tries not to focus on it as he makes his way into the ballroom of this hall.

Him attending this scientific gala is about getting the Light of Creation. You know, the thing he’s been focused on for decades now? Yeah, that, not the fact that Lup is his date. The mission is more important than his silly little crush.

Lup is walking with him, on his arm, and looking around at the building. It’s a beautiful thing, but a sappy part of Barry insists that she’s more beautiful.

She’s in a strapless scarlet red dress with a slit up to her thigh to show off brown freckled skin. Her hair is in a fancy bun decorated with a rose to make it look as if there’s a flower blooming from within it.

Barry’s suit matches hers, the same shade of red on his jacket and pants, even his tie is decorated with rose embroidery. If he remembers right, Lucretia got the design inspiration from a past cycle. She clearly has good taste.

“Isn’t this so cool?” Lup asks. She turns from looking at the ceiling to smiling at Barry.

“Uh, yeah. It’s— it really is somethin’,” he says.

“I almost feel bad for having to rob this guy blind,” Lup says casually, plucking an hors d’oeuvre from a waiter walking past and popping it in her mouth. “Ooh those are good.”

“Yeah, I uh, I hope we can actually uh, enjoy this before, y’know, shit hits the fan.”

Lup nods. She looks around some more as they walk, then stops and squeezes Barry’s arm. She leans in close and whispers, “Look!”

Barry looks where she’s looking, and finds the Light. Suspended from the ceiling in an elaborate chandelier. The Light of Creation, capable of advancing sciences and civilizations beyond imagination in a single year, being used as a decorative light fixture.

“Oh,” he says simply.

“I take it back. Rich assholes deserve to be robbed,” Lup says. With more purpose, she continues into the hall, still on Barry’s arm.

He follows, and the two of them find their reason for being here: the host of the party. He’s in an impressive black suit which would normally make him blend in, but he stands out. It’s just a guess, but Barry thinks it’s because he’s a genasi, and his hair’s on fire. Or rather, _is_ fire.

“Dr. Ember!” Lup says jovially, pressing as much politeness into her tone as possible. Barry feels her vice grip on his upper arm, though, so he knows just how much anger she’s holding back.

“Yes, hello!” Ember says, “I’m glad I get the chance to greet my guests personally. Although I… don’t recognize you…?”

“Oh yes of course,” Lup says. Barry’ll let her take the lead, she’s a much better liar. “My cousin was supposed to attend but fell ill, so he gave me his invitations, and I brought Barry here as my plus one.” She sticks out her hand for Ember to shake. “I’m Lup.”

Ember shakes Lup’s hand, then Barry’s. “Barry Hallwinter.”

“Nice to meet you, Doctor and Doctor Hallwinter,” Ember says with a smile.

Barry freezes. Lup freezes. They trade a look.

“Yup!” Barry blurts, “We’re married. The same— sharing last names and everything.”

Ember gives them a curious look, but spots something over Barry’s shoulder. He says, “Sorry friends, you’ll have to excuse me,” then walks off past them.

They walk away, still arm in arm. Lup basically rushes to the buffet table and Barry follows. Anything to get away from that conversation.

They trade looks again. They start laughing.

They’re probably drawing attention to themselves, which is the opposite of this mission’s goal, but Barry can’t bring himself to care. Lup looks so radiant right now. Under sparkling lights in a gorgeous dress and looking so joyous.

She drops his arm to stand across from him, her own arms folded across her chest. “What was that?” She doesn’t sound upset, she actually sounds amused, but Barry feels embarrassed anyway.

“I thought it’d be, uh, be less suspicious if we went along with that. He’s probably already gonna blame— gonna think we’re suspicious because we weren’t like, personally invited and stuff.”

Lup nods, eyes drifting to the table. She starts making herself a plate and says, “That makes sense.” She’s still smiling, residual laughter evident. “Though it’ll make this more of an acting role than a spy mission.”

Barry shrugs, starting to pile food onto a plate as well. “I, uh, I didn’t think that far.”

Lup giggles. “That’s alright, babe.” She meets Barry’s eyes and says, “Or should I say, _babe_.”

Barry can practically see his own face go red. He focuses on his plate and chuckles. “Uh, yeah.”

Lup calls people babe. It’s what she does. Taako calls strangers darling and Lup calls friends babe. Stuff like that is Twin Things 101™. But to hear Lup call him that with all the romantic implications attached is… it sure won’t make this night easy.


	6. taakitz: watch you sleep

When Taako wakes up he stretches. Pushing out his legs to get rid of that stuck feeling, and trying to get blood flowing in his back as discreetly as possible. He tries not to move too much so as to not wake the man in his arms. Kravitz has his face buried in Taako’s shoulder and the two of them have their arms around each other.

What a feeling to wake up to.

Something he notices, however, is the way that Kravitz slightly adjusts his hold on Taako. That’s weird, Kravitz usually sleeps like the dead, pun only sorta intended.

“Babe?” Taako asks, voice soft and gravelly with sleep. “Are you awake?”

Kravitz, face still out of Taako’s sight, says nothing and doesn’t move. Two can play at that game.

“Guess you’re not,” Taako says, “which is a shame. I’d love to spend a morning cuddling my boyfriend. But since he’s _asleep_ , I can’t. I have no other option except to wake up and start my day.”

Taako starts to pull away and immediately Kravitz holds him tight, burying his face even closer to Taako. He still says nothing.

Taako chuckles. “Babe, why’re you like this?” No response.

He shifts himself so that he’s face to face with Kravitz. He leans their foreheads together and studies his boyfriend’s face, looking for any sign of him being awake. He’ll give it to him, Kravitz is good at faking being asleep. But he won’t be for long.

“Babe?” Taako whispers. “Babe, you awake?” He sees Kravitz’s jaw clench as he holds back a smile and Taako grins. “Babe? Baby? Are you pretending to be asleep?”

Kravitz’s facade is cracking. Victory! “Babe, I can see you smiling. You’re awake aren’t you?”

Okay now Kravitz is full on smiling but refusing to open his eyes. He tries to hide his face again but Taako doesn’t let him. “C’mon babe, lemme see those eyes, them pretty peepers. Your seeing orbs. Your face jelly bullseyes. Your—”

“My _what_?” Kravitz says, laughing. He finally opens his eyes and meets Taako’s gaze. The sappy part of Taako would say something about his heart warming up as he looks into Kravitz’s eyes. Instead he laughs with him.

“Now you’re up!” Taako says, “I am victorious!”

“Well I’m in a handsome man’s arms, who’s the real winner here?” Kravitz asks.

“Me,” Taako says simply. He leans in and kisses Kravitz’s forehead. He keeps kissing him, peppering his face with little pecks until they’re both giggling like idiots.

Taako presses his forehead to Kravitz’s again. “Why’d you pretend to sleep?”

Kravitz looks sheepish. “I like laying here with you. It’s warm.”

That sappy part of Taako kicks the lovey-dovey thoughts into overdrive. He doesn’t know what to say. He pulls Kravitz into an embrace. “We can keep laying here, then.”

Kravitz chuckles, repositioning his arms around Taako. “You’re just as sappy as me, love.”

Taako smiles into Kravitz’s forehead. “Don’t tell anyone and we can sleep in.”

Kravitz smiles into Taako’s skin. “Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact this is the only chapter in this fic that wasn't a request. i simply craved soft sleepy taakitz and became the change i wanted to see


	7. lupcretia: meet weird but also meet cute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: light injury and blood

_Fuck. Shit. Fuck shit ow. Fuck. Shit. Fuck shit ow._ If Lucretia repeats this enough it starts to have a beat to it. That’s something she can focus on more than her thigh and the hand towel she has pressed into it.

Magnus is… a decent driver, usually. Mostly gets distracted by things on sidewalks. But on the ride to the emergency room he was scary good and scary fast. If she were more of a jokester she’d suggest he’s only doing this to keep her from staining his passenger seat.

He leads the way as she hobbles in, a hand still pressing the towel to her upper thigh. It doesn’t hurt to walk too much, but this repeated movement isn’t helping too much. He gets her to a seat near some other people and goes off to check her in. He’s nervous but smiles in a way that’s an attempt at reassuring before she watches his retreating back.

“Wow. You’d think he’s the hurt one,” a woman next to Lucretia says. She turns to look at her.

“You don’t even look that hurt compared to him freaking out,” she says. She’s holding an ice pack to her hairline, and her forehead, shirt, lower legs, and shoes have splatters of blood onto them. The woman looks utterly unbothered and even smiles at Lucretia.

“I could say the same to you,” Lucretia says, “Can I ask what happened?”

The woman nods across the room to a man, her twin by the looks of it, who’s filling out one of those forms. “My brother hit me with a club,” she says, then adds, “Not on purpose though. He just sucks at mini-golf.”

“How hard did he hit you?” Lucretia asks. That’s a lot of blood for that type of injury.

“Not hard at all! Head wounds just bleed a _lot_ , y’know?” The woman shrugs. “Guess it’s the body’s way of saying ‘hey there’s an important organ in here!’”

The two of them laugh. Lucretia says, “You seem to know a lot about injuries.”

“Yeah, I was a rowdy kid, plus I do a lot of stupid shit that makes me get hurt. Like play mini-golf with my brother. What about you, though? Fuck up while workin’ out or something?”

“Uh, no. I accidentally stabbed myself with a pen.” The gash on the side of her thigh might have a little bit of ink mixed in, that can’t be good.

“Well I hope you wouldn’t stab yourself on purpose.”

They laugh again. “I’m Lucretia.”

“Lup.”

She smiles again, and Lucretia finds her heart fluttering. The two of them, bloodied and injured, laughing at the reasons they’re here. Not to mention that Lup is beautiful, even if covered in blood. That’s so unfair.

Lucretia just met her and is already catching feelings. She _needs_ to sort her priorities.

Lup is about to say something when Magnus comes back, clipboard and pen in hand. He says, “I got this form thing we need to fill out then—” He cuts himself off as he looks at Lup. “Hey, aren’t you Lup?”

Lup flourishes her free hand as she theatrically bows her head. “The one and only.”

Magnus brightens. “I know Taako! Wait, why’re you here?”

“Mini-golf got intense,” Lup says, nodding to Taako across the waiting room again.

Magnus sees Taako and gasps excitedly, walking off to him.

“Wait, is that Magnus?” Lup asks Lucretia, who nods.

“I’ve heard so much about the guy! He and Taako are close. Same with Merle.”

“You know Merle too?” Lucretia asks.

Lup smiles brightly. “Yeah! Man, we should’ve been friends before now!”

Lup laughs and Lucretia laughs along. Lucretia says, “I’m sorry we met like this, though.”

“Oh don’t worry babe, it’s all cool,” Lup says, “After all this, we can hang out and you can tell me why you’d stab yourself with a pen.”

Lucretia chuckles. “Yeah, it’s kind of a story.” A story involving stress writing and venting to Magnus and attempting to slam her fist on a table.

“I’d love to hear it,” Lup says, then a nurse is walking into the room and calling her name. She stands and says, “Gotta go.” She gives Lucretia a wink as she walks off. “See ya, Lucy.”

“Bye,” Lucretia says dumbly, leaning against her seat as Lup leaves.

Taako sees Lup walking with the nurse and shoves past Magnus to follow, then Magnus is sitting in the now empty chair next to Lucretia and helping her fill out the form before a nurse is calling her as well.

Lucretia’s fine, just a few stitches. But she can’t bring herself to focus too much, just subconsciously squeezing Magnus’ hand whenever it hurts too much. (Honestly, Magnus is more worried than her. She’s only holding his hand because he insists it’ll help her.)

Her mind keeps stubbornly drifting back to Lup and her blood-stained face. She’ll have to have Magnus get her number from Taako once this is all over, if only so they can see each other outside of harsh hospital lighting. But either way, she guesses it doesn’t matter; they would meet again eventually. Destiny or something. It’s nice to think about.


	8. taakitz: random times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: ptsd

It happens at random times, which is the worst part. One minute Taako’s chopping vegetables for a salad, the next he’s standing as still as a statue, all the emotion drained from him. And when his mind is still it drifts, to roulette wheels and buttons and monsters and falling washing machines.

He tenses up, hand wrapped tight around the counter and the knife handle. He’s frozen, head staring aimlessly down as his stupid brain reminds him of that day. Or was it days? How long was he trapped there? Is he still trapped there? Those two are good at illusions, he could still be in their torture carnival, and all this could come crashing down around him to pump out more  _ suffering _ and—

Cold. Pressure. There’s something chilly wrapped around him on all sides and he drops the knife on the cutting board in shock. He snaps open his eyes— when had he closed them? and looks down to see a pair of dark muscular arms hugging him from behind.

“Babe?” And oh! He’s crying. This is fine.

Kravitz’s voice is muffled, due to the fact that his face is buried in Taako’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Taako is shaken still, not quite ready for Kravitz to let go, and the tears are still dripping, but he nods. “The bad part’s over. What’d you do?”

Kravitz loosens his vice grip on Taako enough for him to turn around and face him. Taako asks, “And why are you shirtless? Not that I’m complaining.”

Kravitz chuckles and wipes a tear out of Taako’s eye. “A while ago I learned that when someone is too in their head about stuff it’s good to draw attention back to their body.” He shrugs and sheepishly says, “I thought I could snap you out of it if you suddenly got really cold.”

Taako stares at him. He stares back, a small little smile on his face. Then Taako drops his forehead onto Kravitz’s bare shoulder and says, “You’re so fucking stupid.”

Kravitz laughs and Taako feels it as much as he hears it. “I love you too.”


	9. blupjeans: “I wish this moment could last forever…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a shipswap au where some roles are switched and the main three ships (blupjeans, magnulia, and taakitz) are different. in this au lup is a reclaimer and barry is the spouse in the astral plane. i wrote the moment where they reunite <3
> 
> tw for death because, y'know, they both died

The Astral Plane is hauntingly gorgeous. The specific island Lup is standing on is big and round, surrounded on all sides by rainbow water and glowing lights. But she doesn’t care about any of it.

Because Barry is here. On the beach, playing piano as naturally as he draws breath. Or… drew breath. He’s dead, but now Lup is too. It’s been years—  _ centuries _ — but now she’s on the same plane as him.

Her grip on Taako’s hand tightens and he squeezes back before letting go. He’s uncharacteristically solemn as he says, “Take your time.”

Lup nods, unable to take her eyes off of Barry, and she hears Taako portal out.

She starts walking before she really knows what she’s doing. Across the grey sand before she’s standing behind him, his back to her. He’s still wearing that shirt she always loved because it’s so soft. She’s still wearing his wedding ring on a chain around her neck.

“Hi,” she says. It definitely isn’t the most eloquent or appropriate thing to say, but she can’t think of anything else.

The melodies of the piano stop immediately. Barry is shocked into stillness for a moment before he turns and makes eye contact with her.  _ Gods _ , she missed those eyes.

He nearly kicks over the bench he’s sitting on as he shoots into a hug. Lup holds him as tight as she can and revels in the feeling of his arms around her again. She buries her head in his shoulder and breathes him in.

“Oh gods, you’re here,” Barry’s saying, “W-we’re together again.”

“I missed you so much,” Lup says, tearing up. “I thought about you every single day, I wouldn’t let anyone forget you.”

“I missed you too.  _ So _ much. Gods, let me…” He trails off, backing up just enough to see Lup’s face. He smiles, eyes wet, and brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re still so b-beautiful.”

“I could say the same for you, handsome.” He doesn’t have any loose hair, but her hands trace his face all the same. The curve of his cheek, the little bit of stubble, the crinkles around his eyes, it’s all exactly how she remembers.

“I love you so much,” he says. She wipes away the tear that falls down his face.

“I love you too,” she says, “And I mean it: I told everyone about you. I— Gods you don’t even know half the story. My friends and I, we’re—”

“Space explorers? Apocalypse fighters?” Barry asks.

“Wh— how’d you know?”

“I heard the story,” he says, “It even reached here.”

Lup is still for a moment, then she laughs. Barry laughs too, pulling her impossibly closer and she can feel the rumble in his chest.

“I guess you  _ do _ know half the story, then,” she says, head on his shoulder. Her arms are wrapped around his neck and his arms are looped around her waist.

“Only half of it?” Barry is slowly swaying back and forth, and Lup could be rocked to sleep standing up.

“Yeah. I’ll tell you all about it. But later…” She readjusts her grip and breathes in the smell of him again. It’d be creepy if Barry wasn’t doing it too. Weird how many of the little things you miss after you lose someone.

Barry hums in response, just holding her. That’s all she needs, really. She only got through her time as a reclaimer and the fight against the apocalypse because she knew she’d see him at the end of it all.

“ **I wish this moment could last forever…** ”

“Who says it can’t?” Barry says, and Lup backs up at that. Only enough to see his face, but still.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, this whole time I was here I convinced The Grim Reaper herself to let me stay and w-wait for you.”

“You know Julia?”

“You… you know her too?”

“I told you there was another half to the story, babe.”

“Oh. Well, uh, I was thinking, I b-bet she could let us stay longer, if we asked. I mean, you’re— you did all of that and saved countless worlds, you could probably call in a favor.”

Lup chuckles. “I like the way you think, babe. But I’ll ask about all that later. Right now I just wanna… I dunno, I’ve  _ missed _ being around you.”

Barry hums. Seems like he has too. Lup can’t stop herself from standing on her toes to close the distance between the two of them. They both immediately melt into the kiss, Lup shifting her hands to cradle Barry’s face. It’s been  _ too _ long.

The kiss lasts longer than normal, because neither of them need to breathe anymore. But it ends eventually and Lup could come back to life just by seeing the look on Barry’s face.

Then she remembers something. “Oh! Almost forgot, hold on.” She reaches behind her head, undoing the clasp of her necklace. She takes it off and holds one end up so the ring on the chain falls off and into the palm of her hand.

“Is that…?”

Lup nods. “I went through hell to get it. I didn’t want to lose it. I, uh, I had already lost enough, you know?”

Barry looks sad at the fact, at Lup bringing up the elephant in the afterlife. Lup just lifts up his hand and slides the ring onto his finger, over the tan line.

“This reminds me of our wedding,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, Taako— my brother— he got  _ so _ mad he missed it. He really wants to meet you, but didn’t want to until I could see you again.”

“Right, I heard about him in the story. Gods, you have a b-brother. I wanna meet him, I saw how important he is to you.”

“So are you,” Lup says, “I swear, you’d fit right in with all those goobers, they’d love you.” Sheepishly, she adds, “They kind of already do, I told them so much about you they might as well know you.”

Barry smiles. “You said he’s w-w-waiting to meet me? So he’s still alive?”

“Oh. No he’s a reaper too. There’s not just one, there’s tons. Taako and Kravitz work with Julia, they’re a team.”

Barry looks appropriately baffled. “You w-were right, I don’t know half the story.” Lup laughs, and Barry says, “Tell me the whole thing, from the b-beginning.”


	10. blupjeans: "your hands are so much bigger than mine"

As soon as Lup gets home she kicks the door closed, steps out of her shoes, drops her bag by said shoes, and promptly faceplants into the couch.

“Rough day?” Barry asks on the opposite end of the couch, an open book in his lap.

“Mmhm.”

“W-was it that guy again?”

“I’m gonna rip his throat out with my teeth,” Lup says tiredly, voice muffled by the couch cushion.

“Hot.”

“You’d only get to watch if you help me hide the body.”

Barry laughs and Lup pushes herself up only enough to crawl into Barry’s lap, her head where his book was. She looks up at the ceiling, then to his face. He closes the book and puts it aside.

“Hi,” she says.

“Hi.” He smiles down to her and she smiles in return. She’s tired and still annoyed, but just being near Barry makes it melt away.

His hand moves to her hair, but before he can reach she grabs it and presses a kiss to his palm with a comically pronounced  _ muah _ . She missed him, she gets to be weird.

He laughs and she holds his hand there, splayed over her face. Muffled, she says, “Your hands are so much bigger than mine.”

“All the b-better to… crush your skull, I guess?”

Lup lifts his hand and looks him in the eye. “If you’re into that.”

They both laugh this time, and Barry actually reaches Lup’s hair to run his fingers through the curls he can reach. She rolls over a bit to give him more room, and with his hands fully in her hair she sighs.

“You’re gonna make me melt, babe.”

“Then whose hair do I get to p-play with?”

She hums, equally contemplative and content. “Taako’s.”

Barry chuckles. “I don’t think he’d be cool with that.”

“He loves attention, he wouldn’t care.”

“I guess you’re right. You know him b-best.”

“Damn right I do. I know you best too, babe.”

“You definitely do.”

She could fall asleep here. Perfectly fine with her. Her eyes slip closed. A moment of silence passes before Barry says, “I love you.”

Lup cracks a smile. “Love you too. What’s the occasion though?”

She feels him move a little and she guesses he shrugs. “I just wanted to say it.”

“Sap.” And it really is sappy. Like yeah, Lup gets random bursts of “I love my partner so much I might explode” too, but she doesn’t really speak it. She’s more likely to do something about it, like bake something he likes or hug him until the butterflies go away. Or…

She sits up, stifling a little yawn. Barry looks at her, seemingly amused with her messy hair and tired eyes. Then she places a hand on his cheek, tilts his face to hers, and kisses him. And if Lup says so herself, which she does, it’s the best kiss she’s given, and the best kiss Barry’s gotten. A lingering, slow type of perfect.

When it ends, Lup opens her eyes and Barry even looks a little dazed. Good, she feels the same.

“W-what’s the occasion?”

“I just wanted to say it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just posted like. 4 chapters in one go because i posted them on tumblr but not on here lol


	11. taakitz: "you call that music?"

“You call that music?”

“Yes? It’s Beethoven?”

“And you listen to this while  _ driving _ ?”

“Yes.” Kravitz doesn’t understand the question. A solid 75% of drivers he encounters suck major ass, so classical music keeps him calm enough that he doesn’t drive himself off a cliff. Plus Beethoven shreds. Why wouldn’t he listen to classical while driving?

“You need serious medical attention. Something is clearly wrong with you.” Taako slumps against the passenger seat, head in hands. They muffle his speech a bit but Kravitz still makes it out. “Why am I dating you.”

“What do you suggest then? If you’re so musically cultured,” Kravitz says, the only one in the car who can play an instrument.

“Give me the aux,” Taako orders, simultaneously holding out a hand and pulling out his own phone.

“Kind of driving here,” Kravitz says.

Taako scoffs as he grabs the cord himself. “As if you’re the pinnacle of responsibility.” He unplugs Kravitz’s phone, rudely cutting off Beethoven, and plugs his own phone in. “Pick a genre.”

“You aren’t gonna pick?”

“Are you saying you don’t want a say in this?” Taako asks. “‘Cause I’m totally cool with playing 100 gecs if you’re suddenly indecisive.”

Judging by the tone of his voice, Kravitz guesses he doesn’t wanna find out what 100 gecs’ songs sound like. “Um, rock?”

Taako blows out a breath as he starts scrolling. “Thanks for being specific, babe.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s tons of rocks. You want hard rock, indie rock, pop rock, punk rock… there’s a metric ton of options here.”

“I didn’t know you liked so much rock.”

“Look at me, babe,” Taako says.

The highway isn’t crowded so he spares a glance at Taako, who is leaning against the seat and window, gesturing to himself.

“What am I supposed to be seeing?”

“I got length, width,  _ and  _ height. I’m  _ multidimensional _ .”

Kravitz chuckles and rolls his eyes, bringing his attention back to the road. “You got me there.”

“Listen, I’m not just one genre, I got variation. That’s why I like goths like you.”

“Is that why you’re surrounded by them?”

Taako goes back to his scrolling. “Not just Barry and Lup. I got a jock, Magnus, and a nerd, Lucretia. Barry’s kinda half goth half nerd, and Dav is… kinda both a jock and a nerd? But not goth. And Merle’s just a weird old man who likes plants.”

“So two and a half goths, two jock, two and a half nerds, a plant lover, and a Taako?”

“Got it in one, babe,” Taako says, a smile in his voice. “Here, I found a song.”

He taps something and music starts filtering through the speakers.

_ Some _ **_body_ ** _ once told me _ —

“God dammit Taako.”


	12. blupjeans: "It doesn’t look like you’ll need stitches…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: injury, specifically burns

“It doesn’t look like you’ll need stitches…” Barry says, barely a mutter to himself, inspecting the injury on Lup’s hand. “It’s just… really b-b-broken skin.”

“That’s good,” she says, “Not the broken skin part, the stitches thing.”

Barry hums in acknowledgment. “You should b-be more careful when you’re casting without a spell focus.”

Lup nods. It is burns that caused this, but— “You were hurt.”

“I’m fine.”

“That limp you’re sporting says otherwise.”

Barry looks up, into Lup’s eyes. She says, “I want you to be safe.”

He gently lifts up her hands, showing her injuries. “So do I. Look,” he lowers her hands and his gaze, picking up a hand towel. “W-we’re both gonna get hurt and we’re both gonna have to deal with it.”

“I—” Lup cuts herself off, sighs, and tries again. “I hate it when you’re hurt. I  _ hate it _ when you die.” Her voice is soft and a bit shaky and she wishes she could just be confident and protective but she can’t. It pains her when he’s in pain and she risks herself for him without thinking about it. Magnus is the protector but she’s the martyr.

Barry is quiet, thinking. He’s carefully dabbing blood off of her hands, but it’s clear that his mind is far away. Then he says, curiously, “W-what if I don’t?”

“Don’t die? Yeah, I’d really appreciate that, babe.” Isn’t that the point of the conversation?

“No, I mean, w-w-what if I  _ can’t _ die?”

Now Lup’s just confused. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve b-been… thinking.”

“About?”

“Um… I w-w-was looking into, um, necromancy. I know it’s dark and dangerous and, uh, all that, but… what if I… became a lich?”

This is all out of nowhere. Has he been keeping this from her? Since when has he been into necromancy? “A lich? What’s that?”

Barry looks nervous. He rubs a hand behind his neck and avoids her gaze. “It’s complicated, b-b-but it’s basically a second chance after I die.”

“That’s…” Risky? Confusing? Scary? “interesting.”

“I know. It’s a lot to think about, b-but…” Barry looks hopeful now, making eye contact with her. “It could work, right?”

Lup hums, thinking about it. She doesn’t know if she’d be happy with him doing it, let alone her. Either way, she has no say in what he does, but… “I wanna know more.”

Barry smiles, relieved. Then he remembers what he was doing and goes back to getting the blood off her hands. “That’s all I ask, really. I don’t even know if I’m gonna do it, it’s really a ‘what if’ situation. B-but I’m glad you’re willing to look into it.”

“Of course,” Lup says, because duh. “I’m willing to look at any possibility, at this point. It’s just… it seems scary.”

“I know, but the Hunger’s p-pretty fuckin’ scary too.”

Lup smiles at him. “You’re right.”

“I try to be.”

She laughs, making him laugh. Barry says, “This is kinda weird, and it’s cool if you— y’know, if you say no, b-but, can we keep this between us? I dunno if everyone else will be, like, okay with us doing this, and if it’s just theoretical, there’s really no need to tell them…?”

Lup nods. “No problemo.”

And after that, not a word leaves that room. Until there’s quiet note taking on sleepless nights, and glances stolen over dark tombs, and best days ever are planned.

Barry heard “til death do we part” and said it wasn’t long enough. Lup is inclined to agree.


	13. ipre twins: “i forgot you used to like this stuff!”

“I forgot you used to like this stuff!” Taako says, joining Lup in the living room. She’s embroidering, as if she’s touched a needle since they were in the seventh decade of cycles.

“Says the guy who demanded I make his clothes look good once a week.” Lup doesn’t look up from her work as he parks his chair next to the armchair she’s curled up in. “How was Mags’ place?”

Taako shrugs. “Eh, fine. He was more interested in the chair than me, so I was stuck with Agnes and the dogs. Oh, Ren went with me and helped Mags though. She gave me some bitchin’ upgrades, check it.”

Lup checks it, and Taako shows off the best part of the chair. Lup’s eyes bulge. “It  _ floats _ now!?”

Taako grins, smug. “Yup. Beat that, you’re the  _ grounded _ twin. Taako’s a bird now. More bird than your goddess mom.”

“As if, she’s— actually, I don’t know what she looks like. She sticks to the shadows all creepy-like. But speaking of birds…” Lup gestures to her embroidery hoop, where she’s stitching a scarlet bird. If Taako knew anything about them he’d probably be able to identify which one it is.

“First a goth phase now a birdwatching phase?” Taako asks.

Lup shrugs. “Maybe. This is mostly practice though.”

“Getting back into stabbing things with needles?” Taako leans over to watch as she gets back to work. Hearing the repetitive sound of thread through fabric is giving him a nostalgia he didn’t know he had.

“Well, yeah, kinda. But this is mostly fine motor skill stuff.”

Right. Spending a decade without a corporeal form apparently does a lot to a person, including fucking up their ability to keep a steady hand. Looking closer, Taako can see that the stitching is shaky and uneven in places, and the bird is a much simpler design than what Lup used to do.

“Looks good, Lulu.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

They laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m back! i wasn’t writing during no content november so that’s why i was gone (ignore the fact that i wrote this before then and forgot to post. shhhhh)
> 
> i have more on my tumblr under [my fic tag](%E2%80%9C)! not taking requests right now but i will soon :-)


	14. blupjeans: "my mother would be proud if i brought you home."

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, babe?” Lup asks, coming up to Barry and hugging him from behind.

Barry barely reacts to her presence, used to her sneaking up on him. He scrubs a dirty plate with a sponge and says, “Uh, a couple things.”

“Liiiike?” Lup casts Mage Hand to start drying the growing stack of clean dishes. Her flesh hands stay wrapped around Barry’s middle.

“Home, mostly,” he admits, and Lup gets it. Everyone’s hesitant to bring the mood down by bringing up The H-Word.

“Hm? What about home?” she asks, cuddling into him.

“Just, like, what if things were different, you know? What if we met when the apocalypse _wasn’t_ happening?”

“Technically, we did meet before then,” Lup says, “But I know what you mean. Though it _did_ take us four decades to get together, you might’ve died before I could tell you how much I love you.”

Barry laughs a little. “I love you too. Um, I think I wouldn’t have been so slow if I were mortal.”

“Yeah, this mission is, like, as old as you, right? About fifty years?” Lup asks, “When I was fifty I was still living with aunts and uncles. Me ‘n Taako were just kids. _Gods_ humans have such short lifespans.”

“I think, uh, elves are just immortal,” Barry says, but his voice seems a bit far away.

Lup nudges his head with her forehead. “I can tell you’re still thinkin’ ‘bout somethin’, babe. Spit it out.”

Barry chuckles, and this time he’s… nervous? He says, “You know, uh, I think my mother would be proud if I, you know, brought you home.”

Well. That wasn’t what Lup was expecting. Quietly, she asks, “You think so?”

Barry, who’s such a momma’s boy that he’s told everyone tens of times how cool his mom was, says, “Uh yeah! I think so.” He looks over his shoulder and smiles at her.

She smiles back. “For what it’s worth, I think my auntie would like you too.”

He smiles to himself as he goes back to his chore. “Glad to hear it.”

“I mean, she’d think you’re too quiet, but she’d find it endearing.” Lup kisses his cheek. “Kinda like I do.”

Barry laughs. “My mom would say you’re, uh, too skinny.”

Lup makes a loud noise of outrage. “Barold! I am not! I am _voluminous_ , I am _curvaceous_ , I am—”

“‘You have hips and shoulders but no _stomach_ ,’” he says, “That’s what she’d tell you.”

“Okay well _sor-ry_ that we can’t all be built like her mountain of a son!”

Barry laughs again. “She’d look at you for half a second then start feeding you.”

“My brother is a _chef_ ,” Lup says, exasperated, as sinks into their embrace. “I eat plenty.”

“‘Clearly not enough,’ she’d say,” he says, in what is apparently an imitation of his mother.

“I can’t even impress her in your brain?”

“Oh no, she’d love you! It’s just, uh, yeah. She’d want to put meat on your bones.”

Lup laughs, and kisses Barry’s cheek again. “Well I’ll be sure to keep that in mind next time I get to make dinner.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am once again getting attached to an incredibly minor character


	15. taakitz: pros and cons

There are pros and cons to being dead. Pro: you can’t get hurt nearly as much. Con: your hands are so cold they get used as ice packs by your family.

But Kravitz isn’t sure whether it’s a good or bad thing that he doesn’t get tired as much as the living. His sleep schedule is basically nonexistent, and half the time he just lies awake in bed, cuddling his boyfriend as he sleeps.

Kravitz finds himself in that situation now. He was sleeping before, but his dead brain said that he only needs three quarters of the night. Now, as the sun’s rising, he pushes himself off Taako’s chest, leans on his elbow and just… admires him.

Rich brown skin dusted with freckles, a slender face and sharp chin, brown curls fanned around his shoulders and the bed, mouth slightly open as he breathes in and out with the rise and fall of his chest.

He’s beautiful.

A portion of said hair is draped over half his face, obscuring one eye. Kravitz reaches over and traces a finger along Taako’s hairline, pulling the locks away from his face and merging them back into the river of hair spilling onto the pillow.

His face scrunches up and Kravitz freezes, afraid of waking him. But Taako’s features relax again as he turns his head to lean into Kravitz’s hand, now cupping his cheek.

Kravitz smiles. He doesn’t want to wake Taako— he still gets tired despite his insistence that elves don’t need sleep— so he moves carefully and slowly. He lays back down, this time next to Taako rather than on his chest, and moves his hand into his curls.

As he slowly moves his fingers to massage his scalp, Taako turns on his side as well, unconsciously craving the touch and giving Kravitz more room. Kravitz moves closer, Taako’s head under his chin, and gets comfortable in this new position. By the looks of it, he’ll be here for a few hours until Taako wakes up.

He can’t bring himself to be upset about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short and sweet! the amount of cuddling taakitz i've written is basically the opposite tho asdkflaskdf


	16. blupjeans: "can we just make a decision? please?"

“Can we just make a decision? Please?”

“Okay, but how?” Lup asks, gesturing between the two options. “Which one will he like?”

Barry sighs, but there’s no real annoyance behind it. “Lup, he’s a baby. He… he won’t care as long as it’s, you know, soft and cuddly.”

“He’s my son! It has to be _perfect_ ,” Lup says, not taking her eyes off the shelf. Barry swears the same determination was in her eye on the Day of Story and Song. The fact that she’s treating a decision between two stuffed animals like a fight against the apocalypse is neither surprising nor unfamiliar.

Lup picks up both toys. One, a fluffy black dog. The other, a velvety red teddy bear. Looking between the two as if it were a puzzle to solve, she says, “You know, Magnus would love both of these.”

“…Magnus isn’t our son.”

“He fuckin’… might as well be,” Lup mutters. Then, louder and with more conviction, “Okay! I’m getting both.”

Barry can’t help but laugh and follow as Lup takes both of them under her arms and continues down the aisles.

“Don’t laugh Barold! This is for our son, who deserves the best!” Lup insists, marching into the baby food aisle with two armpits full of stuffed animals.

“He already, uh, has the best mom,” Barry says, pushing the carriage to keep up with her.

“And the best dad! Even if you don’t know what’s too dangerous to play with.”

“Hey! At least I’m, like, cautious.”

“Babe, you’re not cautious,” Lup says, dropping the toys into the carriage to look at two different formulas. “You’re too scared to let him do anything _fun_.”

“Well uh, sorry for thinking that open flames are bad for babies.”

“Barry, I love you, you know this, we’re raising a child together, but you have no concept of what is too dangerous for a baby,” Lup says. She grabs a few bottles of one formula and puts them in the cart as well. Turning to face Barry fully, she says, “Take it from someone who was treated like half a hot potato as a kid: he’s fine. Also, I’m practically the queen of fire, he’ll never be hurt by my evocation. You know that.”

“I do, but… I’m just trying to be safe, is all,” Barry says, “I don’t wanna suck at, y’know, being a dad. I mean, I never knew mine so how can I be, uh, sure I’ll be good? Good dad, that is.”

Lup, who was pulling out the shopping list to check things off, looks over at him with a knowing look. “Neither of us had that. I’m just as scared as you, believe me.”

She shoves the list into her back pocket so she can take Barry’s hands in her own. “But I trust you. And you trust me, right?”

“Of course,” he says immediately, because _of course_.

“Then we’ll be fine,” Lup says with a smile. A trademark ‘Lup loves you’ smile that makes Barry’s heart skip a beat and would’ve left him a blushing mess before they got together. She kisses his forehead and says, “We can make sure the other isn’t fucking up.”

“Does that mean I can get you to stop telling bedtime stories with pyrotechnics?”

“No,” Lup says decisively, “That’s rad and our baby deserves to be rad.”


	17. ipre + davenport: "you are my family."

Dinner on the ship is… as expected. The twins threaten the life of anyone who steps foot into the kitchen, Magnus or Merle always complain when they have to set the table, and Lucretia or Barry are always late because they both get sucked into respective projects. Davenport, who would probably disintegrate without a schedule to stick too, always gets to dinner ready and on time.

“You’re like a robot, Cap’nport,” Magnus says as they’re all sitting down. In the other room, the twins can be heard squabbling over something or other.

“At least I’m on time,” Davenport says.

“Hey! I’m not the late one!” Magnus says, pointing to Lucretia, who attempts to sink into her chair, and Barry, who rolls his eyes.

“At least I _washed up_ ,” Davenport says with a pointed look at Magnus’ hands, which are somehow covered in dirt. He hasn’t even left the ship all day, where did he find dirt?

Magnus groans and stands, marching off to the bathroom like a bratty kid. The twins emerge from the kitchen, each brandishing a dish of food with a smile as if Davenport didn’t hear distinct slapping and shoving five minutes ago.

“We present to you: lasagna,” Taako announces, placing the dish in the center of the table.

“ _Plus_ a dairy free version,” Lup says, dropping a personal sized dish in front of Barry.

“Thanks,” he says, and Lup kisses his cheek before sitting down at her own seat.

“It looks amazing as always,” Davenport says, “Thank you both.”

“Of course it does,” Taako says, serving himself a plate.

“OKAY I’M BACK!” Magnus yells, rushing back to his seat not unlike an excitable dog. He and the rest of them load their plates and begin eating.

“So what was it?” Merle asks the twins, “What were you two fighting over this time?”

Davenport largely suspects that Merle just wants to get them to fight again because he thinks it’s funny to watch— and he’s not _completely_ wrong, not that Davenport would ever _ever_ admit it.

Taako says, “This dullard thinks she knows more about how long to cook a lasagna, which is _laughable_!”

“No it isn’t!” Lup says, “I’m the one who deals with fire, I think I know more about heat then _you_ , Mr. Transmutation.”

“For the last time: committing arson is different than cooking!”

“Isn’t arson just… bigger cooking?” Magnus asks, “Both are fire.”

“ _Thank you Magnus_ ,” Lup says, “You’re my new twin brother, Taako’s out.”

Taako scoffs, loud and high pitched and offended. Yeah, Davenport’s staying out of this one. Taako declares, “Then I’m taking Creesha!”

“Please keep me out of this,” Lucretia says, looking very tired.

Actually, she looks a lot more tired than usual. She catches Davenport staring and asks, “What?”

“When did you last sleep?”

Lucretia immediately avoids his gaze with the guiltiest expression a person can have. The other five start snickering.

“Lucretia?”

“I slept last night! …Sort of.” That last part is much quieter but he still hears it.

He gives her a disapproving look. “You’re sleeping a full eight hours tonight.”

She goes back to her meal. “Fine,” she mutters, and she subtly rolls her eyes.

“Saw that,” he says, digging into his own plate.

The twins break out into full laughter. Lucretia gives them a glare and a pout over her fork.

“I dunno why we call you Cap’nport, Cap’nport,” Magnus says, “You’re more parent than captain.”

Lup snorts. “Dad’nport.”

Magnus gasps. “Dad’nport!”

Soon enough, to no one’s surprise, the two of them are chanting, “Dad’nport! Dad’nport! Dad’nport!”

“I mean, if you want to call yourselves children, I wouldn’t disagree,” Davenport says.

Taako snorts. “Me ‘n Lup are older than you.”

“Really? Then why don’t you act like it?” Davenport deadpans.

Everyone else but the two of them laugh at that. Taako sends a glare his way, though Davenport can tell there’s no malice behind it. A lot of annoyance, maybe, but no malice. He smiles.

The meal continues with similar teasing and familiar pouting. And… if they want him acting like a parent, then…

“After we’re done I want Magnus and Barry doing the dishes. And Lucretia? Go to _bed_.”

Magnus groans. “Why me?”

“Because the twins cooked.”

“And Merle isn’t allowed back in my kitchen!” Taako announces. He glares at Merle and hisses, “You know what you did.”

Merle shrugs, not looking at all regretful. Davenport doesn’t even want to know. These kids are gonna drive him crazy one of these days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! found family time :-) i couldn't fit the dialogue of this dialogue prompt into this, but i tried to capture the same Vibe


	18. blupjeans: "tell me that when you're sober."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: intoxication

This plane is weird in _many_ ways, one of them being the strange effect the food has on elves specifically. Too bad they didn’t know until they were attending a gala.

Magnus had thrown Taako over his shoulder and carried him out a little while ago, despite Taako’s drunken demands to be put down so he could continue dancing on the table. Lup, however, insisted she was fine.

Now Barry knows she is decidedly not fine. Barry is supporting most of her weight right now, one of her arms draped across his shoulders. He isn’t a beefcake like Magnus but he could probably pull off a fireman carry if he wanted to, but he doesn’t. Lup would probably kick him in the face and Magnus is much more used to black eyes than he is. They’re making their way through grand yet empty halls to the exit to get her back on the ship.

“I love you,” she slurs, an empty glass in her free hand.

“Tell me that when you’re sober.”

Lup waits a beat, then, “I love you.”

“I said wait ‘til you’re sober.”

“I am sober!” she yells, waving her glass. “I drank _water_.”

“Alien water that made you drunk,” Barry says. “Can you, uh, stop dragging your feet?”

Lup lets go of him and stomps down the hall with the longest strides she can manage. They’re really more like lunges. “ _See_? I’m fine!” After about five paces she stops and stands upright, swaying. Barry reaches her side and she slumps against him. “Like it when you carry me though.”

He pulls her arm over his shoulders again and his other arm wraps around her waist, and they keep walking.

“I mean it too! I loooooove you, Barr,” Lup says, poking Barry’s chest with her finger. He has a hold of her wrist, but her fingers still wiggle around.

“Love you too,” he says, “You’re just… real fucked up right now.”

Lup laughs, hiccups, and laughs again. “You fuck me up. In the heart.”

“Um… thanks?”

Lup leans over and places a sloppy kiss to his check. She whispers, “You’re welcome, baby.”

Barry tries to fight a blush and apparently fails, because Lup laughs again, boisterous and wasted.

“I made Barr-Barr blu-ush,” she sing-songs, still laughing and drooping more, so Barry has to stop walking to make sure she’s upright.

“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up,” he says.

“Can we get back to the ship now?” she suddenly asks with a pout, as if she hasn’t been the one slowing them down. “I wanna not watch a movie ‘cause we’re too busy makin’ out.”

That _does_ sound nice, but it’s not gonna happen while she’s drunk, even if she is his girlfriend. “How about we just… watch the movie?”

She pouts harder. “You’re no fun. But fine!” She smiles. “Only if we can cuddle. I like cuddling you.”

“Right back at you.”

“I ALSO like making out, but SOMEONE won’t let me!”

“You’re drunk, honey. I’m not doing that when you’re not sober.”

“C’mooooon. Promise, the first thing Sober Lup will do is kiss your pretty face.”

“Whatever you say.”

And she was right, of course. But Barry doesn’t regret a thing.


	19. ipre twins: "do you trust me?"

Taako can’t sleep. This world is dying and it’s his family’s fault. It’s _his_ fault. He tries to be like how he used to: not caring about anyone but himself and Lup. But it doesn’t work. Lup has so much _empathy_ , she cares _so much_ , and Taako is the one that holds her and it’s his chest she sobs into whenever the gauntlet death toll reaches a new thousand. So now he cares… at least about her feelings on the matter.

He can’t sleep. So he goes to the kitchen to find something to eat. He opens the fridge and scans the shelves slowly. His body is slow and tired, but his mind keeps racing.

In the light of the fridge, though, he sees something on the island: a note. He picks it up and, in Lup’s familiar handwriting and signed with a kiss, read the words _back soon_. From the other room he hears movement, going towards the door out of the ship.

Taako moves without thinking. He reaches the exit and finds Lup, dressed in her robe with the hood pulled up. She’s opening the door and has her umbrella in her grip.

“Where are you going?”

She jumps, and turns to face him. “Tee? Why are you awake?”

“Why are _you_ awake?” Taako asks, stepping forward. His thin pajamas don’t protect him from the cool night air, but he doesn’t care. “What’s ‘back soon’ mean?”

She sighs, upset. To herself: “I didn’t want anyone to— ugh.” To Taako: “I won’t be gone long.”

“Where are you going,” he says, grabbing her wrist. It isn’t a question. She’s avoiding something, and twins don’t keep secrets, _they_ don’t keep secrets.

“Do you trust me?” she asks suddenly. Not avoiding his gaze, staring right into his soul. Her urgency and seriousness is evident.

“Wh— of course I do, what’s this got to do with—?”

“If you trust me, then you’ll let me go.”

They stare at each other for a moment. Taako blinks first, and he looks away.

“I trust you,” he says, letting her go.

But she doesn’t go far. She leans her umbrella against the wall, steps forward, and hugs him, tucking his head against her shoulder. He hugs back, of course.

“I love you,” she says, voice shaking.

“Love you too, Lulu,” he says.

She sniffs and chuckles wetly. “Don’t call me that.”

He smiles into her shoulder before she pushes away, hands on his own. She smiles, tears in her eyes, and she lets go.

She picks up her staff and turns to leave again. She stops just past the threshold, looks over her shoulder, and says it again.

“Back soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've learned that writing angst makes me go >:D which says something about me i guess


	20. blupjeans: "i didn't know where else to go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: injury and blood

There’s a knock; three heavy pounds, then silence. Barry opens the door and a woman falls forward, like she had been leaning on it. She only straightens when Barry helps her up, and then he sees why.

She has an arm wrapped around her middle, and bruises littering the skin visible to him. Even when wearing a red robe, the bloodstains are visible and pronounced.

Barry looks up, at the woman’s face. It’s also bruised, and under the mask, one eye is blackened.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” Phoenix Fire says, and she falls forward again, unconscious.

And Barry? He’s seen a lot of things. For someone who seems exceedingly average, he has a strange life, including being the one of the people whose life has been saved by local flamethrowing superhero Phoenix Fire.

She is… resplendent, simply put. Barry considers himself lucky that he is friends with her, or as friendly as one can get with a superhero. See, Barry has information and she acts on it. No one knows of his existence or his role in her work, but she considers them a duo. They’re coworkers, in a sense. It’s incredible to know that he’s making such an impact in his city, and it’s even more so to know that he gets to do it with such an amazing woman.

…An amazing woman that is unconscious on his couch. Barry doesn’t even know what to do, but his body acts on survival instinct, rushing to grab first aid supplies and start taking care of her.

There isn’t a lot of blood, and it’s all from random places on her body that line up with rips in the fabric of her costume. He guesses whoever she was fighting had a knife as well as a mean right hook. The thing on her side seems to be a broken rib, and it takes priority.

One wikihow article later, she’s laid on her back in a slightly upright position, which cushions under her back and knees. Barry has an ice back held over her chest with one hand, while his other tries to place a bandage on one of the cuts as neatly as possible. Maybe it’s because she’s here and she’s hurt, but Barry finds himself messing up more than he normally would.

He stops, uses her limp hand to hold the pack in place, and gets to work on the cuts with two free hands. He has to rip the fabric more to get enough room to work, and he feels a pang of guilt until he remembers that clothes are easier to fix than stab wounds. There are really only a handful of them, but the fact that the number is higher than zero makes him really, _really_ upset.

He’s not dumb, he knows he has a crush on her. It’s the size of this city, but he doesn’t act on it. She’s adored, and rightfully so! She probably gets love declarations every other day, and she just doesn’t need her partner to add to that.

What he _needs_ to do is help her. And he does that, carefully cleaning the cuts and applying bandages as he goes. After about twenty minutes, he removes the ice pack, and when the coolness leaves her she shifts, groans, and stills.

“Phoenix?” he asks.

She grunts, and her eyes— …eye is screwed shut. But her voice is forcibly light as she says, “Hey, babe.”

That too. _Babe_. How does she get away with calling him that? Moreso: how does he survive? “…Hi.”

She tries to move again, but Barry places a gentle hand on her shoulder to still her. “Take it easy. You shouldn’t be, y’know, getting up and moving around in this condition.”

She reluctantly relaxes, brow creased. Taking shallow breaths, she gingerly traces a finger over where her broken rib is. Immediately she flinches and winces, and Barry takes her hand and moves it away from her torso.

“Thanks for fixin’ me up, Barry,” she says, not letting go of his hand. She gives him a small smile.

He smiles back. “Of course.”

It lingers for a moment, with Phoenix just looking into his eyes and holding his hand, before she eventually lets go. Her hands fold on top of her chest, and she lets him get back to work.

FUCK. “Um. How did you end up… like this?” he asks, going back to his bandage application.

Her eyes stay closed. “Fightin’ bad guys, babe. It’s what I do.”

“I could tell that much,” Barry says, “Was it anyone in particular?”

“Nah. Some guys trying to mug this poor boy. I got him away but the guys ganged up on me,” Phoenix says, “They were just dudes, not like, a supervillain, so I didn’t use my powers on ‘em. I just sorta… beat them up. Knocked them unconscious and called my brother to come deal with them. I still don’t trust cops with things like that.”

Barry hums, nodding. Phoenix’s brother is almost like a celebrity, he’s someone that Barry always hears about but has never seen in person. How he “deals” with cases like this is still a mystery to him. Somehow he always makes sure they’re safe but properly dealt with.

“Mmm… you got a remedy for this?” Phoenix asks, and Barry looks over to see her pointing at her black eye.

“Oh, yeah, hold on.” Barry grabs the ice pack again. It’s not too cold, but it’ll do for now. He passes it to her and she carefully places it over her eye.

He goes back to silently cleaning and bandaging. Once he’s done, he sits back on his heels and starts cleaning up the floor around the couch, littered with first aid supplies. “I think I’ve done all I can. I mean, you should probably go to a hospital or something but, you know, you’ll make it through the rest of today.”

“Thanks,” Phoenix says, “I think I’ll be fine, thanks to you.”

Her uninjured eye is closed, so she doesn’t see Barry’s blush. “Glad I could help.”

She smiles. “You always do.”

And Barry doesn’t really know what to say to that. Phoenix says, “Wanna know a secret?”

A secret? “Sure?”

“My name begins with L,” Phoenix says, opening her eye to grin at Barry.

That’s… “Are you sure you wanna be, um, telling me that?”

She nods. “You can call me that, if you want.”

“Elle?” he asks, and she nods again. “Okay… Elle.”

She smiles, cheerful, and Barry feels the sappy feelings tailor made for her bloom in his chest. Her smile falls eventually, and it’s replaced with a tiredness Barry is sure he’s never even experienced, and he’s pulled too many all-nighters to count.

“I don’t think I’m concussed, so I think I can sleep, right?” Elle asks. Her eye slips closed anyways.

“I think so,” he says, “But do you wanna sleep here? Or go home?”

“I’ll stay here. I trust you.”

She trusts him? “Okay,” he says simply.

“I’ll need a new ice pack once I wake up though,” she says, “This ain’t my first rodeo.”

Barry chuckles. “I know.”

She smiles, one last time, then she lets the exhaustion of her day pull her into sleep. And call him creepy, or weird, but Barry watches her sleep. He watches the rise and fall of her chest, and it reminds him that she’s real, that he’s real, and that life goes on, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think "FUCK." followed by casual dialogue is my new favorite way of showing that someone's internally panicking but not showing it. very relatable


	21. lupcretia: "i apologise sincerely…"

When Lup wakes up, she’s in the arms of a gorgeous woman. A woman she’s lived with for decades and has dated for months, but she’s still starstruck. This is the first morning they’ve shared a bed.

Last night, Lup’s room was torn apart by Taako, looking for the Fantasy Tybee Island t-shirt that she “stole” from him. She insisted that it was hers to begin with (because it _is_ ) and he argued the opposite, but the end result was the same: an utterly destroyed room.

When Lup flirtily took Lucretia’s hand and leaned into her space and suggested being _“roommates”_ she didn’t expect Lucretia to accept, but she did. However, the night was instead spent talking and staring into each other’s eyes and all that romantic sap. Lup can’t bring herself to regret it though, seeing Lucretia’s face bathed in moonlight is amazing no matter what.

Which leads Lup to this morning. At her stirring, Lucretia brushes a strand of hair away from Lup’s face and behind her ear. She leans down and kisses Lup’s forehead, humming. “Good morning, love.”

“Mornin’ baby,” Lup says, eyes slipping closed in content. She’s so _warm_ , probably because of the hoodie she left on. “How long’ve you been awake?”

Lucretia hums again, mouth still pressed against Lup’s hairline. “I was in and out.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Um…”

Lup backs up, making eye contact with Lucretia. “Was it me?”

Lucretia smiles sheepishly and nods.

“Oh fuck,” Lup says, smushing her face back into Lucretia’s shoulder. “Sorry babe. What happened?”

Lucretia starts running her fingers through Lup’s hair. “It’s fine. You just… uh… snore.”

Lup lets out a childish whine and buries herself deeper into Lucretia’s embrace. “Noooooo.”

Lucretia chuckles at the antics and says, “Like I said, it’s fine. This… this sounds creepy, but I liked watching you sleep.”

Lup softens, the embarrassment melting into something else. “That’s not creepy, Lucy,” Lup says, leaning up just enough to press a kiss to the space between Lucretia’s jaw and ear. “That’s super sappy.”

Lup catches the way Lucretia sucks a breath through her nose at the kiss. She grins and presses another one there, causing Lucretia to giggle. Lup smiles fully and backs up, seeing Lucretia’s giggle paired with a nearly-invisible blush against her dark skin in the morning light.

“I apologise sincerely if my beautiful face has kept you awake all night.”

“Don’t,” Lucretia says, the hand behind Lup’s head pulling her into a kiss.

“We should do this more often,” Lup mumbles when they pull away. “Share a room.”

“Yeah?” Lucretia says. Her nails lightly scratch Lup’s scalp and her eyes stay stuck on Lup’s lips.

“Mmhm,” Lup says, kissing Lucretia again. “I like seeing you first thing in the morning.”

“I like it too,” Lucretia says. But her eyes drift again, further down. Lup is confused for a moment as her expression changes to one of confusion. She points.

At Lup’s shirt, poking out from under the hoodie. Lup looks down and her eyes blow wide.

Lucretia asks, “Is that a Fantasy Tybee Island t-shirt?”

Lup hikes up her hoodie and pulls down her shirt, showing off the text reading, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere (On Fantasy Tybee Island)!”

She looks from it to Lucretia wordlessly. Then she smiles sheepishly and lets her clothes lay flat against her again. “Whoops.”

Lucretia asks, “Did you do that on purpose?”

“No,” Lup answers truthfully, “Guess I’m just lucky.”

At the goofy smile on her face, Lucretia laughs and pulls her back for another kiss.

Yeah, definitely lucky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me? writing more sleepy cuddling fics? more likely than you think


	22. blupjeans: "close your eyes and hold out your hands."

“Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

“…I don’t want to.”

Lup pouts. “Why not?”

“Because, um, last time I heard you say that you made Taako hold living slime.”

“Jeffilliam was my _son_! He was refusing to hold his _nephew_ ,” Lup insists, arms behind her back, holding _something_ out of his view. “Come on, it’s _really_ important, you gotta.”

And looking at Lup, with her mischievous little smile that crinkles her eyes just so, Barry knows he can’t say no to that face. Resigning himself to his fate, he closes his eyes and sticks his hands out in the space between them.

His thoughts are already reaching as far as they can. What flora and fauna did they find on this plane? Is there anything that is poisonous to humans but safe to elves and she forgot? He loves Lup and trusts her with almost everything, but there’s emphasis on _almost_ in this moment.

Two things wrap around his hands and squeeze. They’re warm, and Barry’s thinking that they’re two small boa constrictors, or living vines, or—

“Okay! You can open,” Lup says.

Barry does, and looks down immediately, prepared for the worst. What’s holding his hands are Lup’s.

He suddenly feels very, very dumb. When you’re a scientist, you rarely feel dumb, but Barry feels dumb.

Lup snorts and giggles. “I can’t believe you fell for that, babe.”

“…Can you blame me?” he asks, still looking at her hands and their black nail polish. “Jeffilliam tried to eat Taako.”

Lup giggles a little more, and he looks up to see her radiant smile. “True. I promise I won’t eat you though.” She steps closer, their intertwined hands falling to their sides, and she kisses him. “Even if you do taste sweet.”


	23. blupjeans: “i’ll pick you up at the airport.”

“I’ll pick you up at the airport.” That’s what Lup had told Barry. It was before he confessed his feelings for her to who he thought was Taako, of course, but it’s what she told him.

She had picked up Taako’s phone to inform Barry that he was asleep, try again later. But Barry wasn’t listening, just going on about how _I think I’m, like, actually in love with her_ and _there’s no way she feels the same_.

He sounded a little tipsy, a lot honest, and when he said, “What am I supposed to say? Uh yeah, ‘Hey, Lup, I’ve been head over heels for the past three years?’ No way,” Lup didn’t know how to respond. He realized it was her, hung up, and they haven’t spoken since. They haven’t even texted.

 _I’ll pick you up at the airport._ She made a promise, and she doesn’t break promises.

Now Lup is waiting at the gate, looking at every face she can see, trying to spot his thick frame glasses and wavy black hair. None of the be-denimed guys she’s found are _her_ guy.

She’s at his gate, waiting as the people filter out. Ironically, she’s next to another woman waiting for a reunion, and Lup watches her run up to and embrace a halfling who pulls her into a kiss. It’s a fairytale moment with a perfect airport ending, and Lup hopes that those two didn’t suck up all the romantic luck in this building.

And then… there he is. Jet-lagged and suffocating in the crowd, but he’s here. They make eye contact and the breath is sucked right out of Lup’s chest. Barry freezes, unable to look away, until he’s being shoved by other passengers trying to leave. Sheepishly, he gets out of the crowd and he’s standing in front of her.

“…Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Um. Thanks for picking me up,” Barry says, as if Lup isn’t in love with him.

“Of course,” Lup says, because of course she’s in love with him.

He looks down, awkwardly, and Lup thinks of the two women she just saw. She thinks farther back, of the last three years. Of how sure Barry sounded when he said _there’s no way she feels the same_.

“About the call—”

Barry can’t finish, because Lup’s hands are cradling his face and her lips are on his. He kisses back, immediately, fingers tangling in her hair. He tastes like sleep and stress and _relief_ , and Lup guesses she tastes the same.

When they pull away Barry looks positively starstruck. “I—”

“I’ve loved you since the day we met,” Lup says, “I called you a nerd and you spilt coffee all over your shirt and I told Taako I would kiss you and here I am.”

Barry looks like he’s processing a lot at once. Lup doesn’t blame him. “…I love you too.”

Lup laughs before she really thinks about it. “I got that,” she says, pulling him back in for another kiss.


End file.
